Holy piña colada! My eyes took in the thin, dark trail that ran down the middle of his eight-pack and circled his navel before disappearing beneath the waistband of his pants. I swallowed hard and did my best to look away. My eyes wouldn’t cooperate. Poseidon, help me. I wanted to say something witty, something that indicated that his body on display had no effect whatsoever on me, but I couldn’t think of anything. The blood had drained from my head.

He folded his shirt neatly and placed it on the table. He glanced up and saw me. “Are those for me?”

I washed off the dreamy look that no doubt had been on my face. “Yeah, here.” I passed them to him and murmured, “Good night,” before hurriedly going back to the bedroom.

“Good night, Avy.” I heard his words as I closed the bedroom door.

Sleeping. Although the room was silent, my mind couldn’t stop mulling over everything that had happened. Carlo’s death, which endlessly reminded me of losing Bryan; Carlo’s twin brother turning out to be my best friend’s soul mate; the woman in the jail cell and how I had been strangely forbidden to ever speak about it; and of course, reliving the kiss with Vlad. It had been the weirdest forty-eight hours of my life.

Around five in the morning there was a huge crash outside my door. Panic-filled thoughts flew through my mind. What if the lady had escaped? Was she coming for me? I tried to calm myself down; it was probably just Vlad tripping on something on the way to the bathroom. I lay back down.

“Okay. I am calm. Calm is me. I find the calmness in me. I pull the calm energy from my surroundings.” I breathed in and out, getting into my Zen zone.

Another noise followed and I jerked upward again. Silently crossing the room, I turned the doorknob slowly, careful not to make a sound. My hours awake in the dark meant I could see well without the lights on, and Vlad’s figure lay still on the couch. My eyes darted to the kitchen. My breath hitched. I saw someone; their back was to me.

I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice and try to chitchat with an intruder, as I had with the woman in the cell. I crept closer, until I was within swinging range, and could see that it was a man.

Now was my moment. I cleared my throat and as the man turned in surprise, I swung my fist, hitting him as hard as I could. He doubled over in pain.

“What the fuck!”

“Dad?”

Holy Hermes, please transport me elsewhere!

I found the lights and switched them on. Yep, the intruder was my dad.

“Avery Montgomery!” he growled. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I thought you were a robber or something! What are you doing?” I retorted.